Searchers comb woods near Corrigan for lost first-time hunter

BY VALERIE REDDELL
Editor
polknews@gmail.com

CORRIGAN — A team of searchers led a missing 14- year-old boy out of a heavily wooded area near FM 1987 and Piney Creek after a fivehour multi-agency search on Wednesday. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office was called at about 3 a.m. Wednesday after two of the three members of a hunting party that lost their bearings in the woods finally made their way back to the truck and summoned help. Investigators said a 20- year-old adult took two juveniles, ages 14 and 16, coon hunting at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. The father of the adult was left waiting in the truck. The second adult is not physically able to hunt, but they planned to park near enough the hunting area so the man could hear the hunting dog. The adult and the 16-yearold made their way back to the vehicle at about 3 a.m. , five hours after they began hunting. The two hunters attempted to go back into the woods to find the 14-yearold, but they were only able to find the wet jacket that the youth was wearing when he was last seen. When deputies arrived, they learned that the missing teenager was visiting from out-of-town and had no hunting experience. After the three had to cross Piney Creek several times, the 14-year-old told his friends that he was not going in the cold water again, investigators said. He said he needed someone to come get him. The adult and the 16-yearold left the 14-year-old with the hunting dog, a .22-caliber rifle and a warm jacket. PCSO asked all Polk County fire departments to assist with the search. Firefighters and a search and rescue team from Hudson Fire Department, tracking dogs from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Gibb Lewis Unit, helicopters with the U.S. Coast Guard and PHI, Game Wardens and residents from the Corrigan area joined the search. Livingston firefighter Tommy Overstreet said he and three other fireman on his search team noticed that the Coast Guard helicopter was hovering over one spot. “We didn’t have communication with the helicopter — only the game wardens were able to talk to them directly — but I just had a feeling they were sitting there for a reason,” Overstreet said. “We headed toward the helicopter and we walked right up on him and the dog.” That was at about 8 a.m. Overstreet said his group just happened to be the group who ran across the youth among the many teams combing the woods. “We were glad to fi nd him in good shape. I told him we could get a four-wheeler in there to pick him up, but he said he would walk with us,” Overstreet said. “He walked with us back to an ATV and said his legs were so cold he couldn’t really feel them,” Overstreet said. The teenager rode with fi rst responders on the ATV to a waiting ambulance and he was taken to Woodland Heights Medical Center in Lufkin for observation. “I’m very grateful to everyone who helped in the search,” Sheriff Kenneth Hammack said. “Their quick action helped turn a serious and dangerous situation into a life-saving experience.” Game Warden Ryan Hall also urged anyone planning outdoor activities during the winter to prepare carefully. Hall advised taking a fl ashlight and a spare — even if you don’t plan on remaining out after dark. Be sure to fully charge your cell phone and take a compass. Hall also commended landowners Bo Stanley, Clark Ogletree and Michael Pounders who were awakened during the night by the search teams. “We got them out of bed and they stayed out there with us in the middle of the woods helping us the entire time,” Hall said. “Everybody from all the groups that came out to help worked together really well.” Hall and the property owners had to cover the most remote portion of the search grid and most of their vehicles got stuck in the mud. A second dozer was called in to remove the game warden’s truck and a dozer owned by Hughes Trucking Co. of Corrigan.